February 15, 2022
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
“Take one of these objects,” the old man said. “It will help you on your way.”
She looked down at the table, covered in relics from a lifetime of adventures. Her hand hovered indecisively over the collection of gadgets. Each had its own history, its own weight. She couldn’t choose.
“You want my advice? Take the globe.” He gestured to an ornate globe, complete with a brass stand and eyepiece.
“Why?”
“Because it’s a flask!” He picked it up and unscrewed the eyepiece. She smelled the sharp odor of spirits.
She sighed. Why could he never take these things seriously?
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February 14, 2022
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
#Fantasy, Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Humor
The paladin entered the clearing and found the cultists, just as he expected. The black-robed figures turned with eerie synchronicity as he drew his sword. They intercepted him with raised daggers while their leader continued the sacrifice.
“The Moon is up!” The old man’s shouts echoed strangely in the night.
“The time is right!”
The paladin fought his way through the maddened crowd.
“We’re gathered here…”
“That’s enough,” The paladin said as he cut down the officiant. He picked up the girl. She’d be alright. But he was going to have that damn song stuck in his head for weeks.
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February 12, 2022
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
He saw the birds circling days before he reached the body. The hundred-foot-tall corpse was leaned up against the mesa as though it were a rock, pinned in place by its own sword. It had been left to the vultures and the sun to dispose of.
When they came West, they found a harsh land protected by harsher gods. They hadn’t been welcome. That hadn’t stopped them.
They told themselves they were heroes. They were bringing Civilization and taming a wild place. He sheltered in the shadow of the giant’s blade and tried to make himself believe it was true.
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February 11, 2022
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
The Dragon Knight looked down from her tower. Below her, she could see the peasants working desperately in the fields, building sand walls and digging for water.
Her heart ached, but what could she do? Drought couldn’t be beaten with a sword. And she’d paid her own price.
A dragon’s life force is puissant and eternal. She was constantly surrounded by blue and silver wraiths. She’d had to isolate herself to protect the kingdom. She didn’t mind, it was part of the duty.
She went back inside, never considering the link between the dragons and the land that spawned them.
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February 10, 2022
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
The door seemed rather ordinary, if out of place. It was solid, heavy oak, and it stood in a stone arch frame in the middle of the forest. The magic was in the keys.
They hung from every bare branch of the dead trees, and each was guarded by a raven that stared down at her with fearsome intelligence. She just needed to find the right key, and appease its keeper. Then she could unlock the door, and it would take her she needed to be.
She finally understood what the old man had meant. Not all labyrinths were mazes.
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February 9, 2022
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Cyberpunk, Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Sci-Fi
The Runner is the ghost of Machine City. Everyone has a second-hand story of a friend or a cousin meeting the one spanner in The Corp’s mighty works.
He hacks a bioterminal to distribute free medicine here and diverts trucks full of SecForce thugs away from a housing protest there. He’s an urban legend, both everywhere and nowhere.
The Chief Policing Officer appears regularly on the feeds insisting that The Runner doesn’t exist. But the work continues.
High above, the boy jumps from catwalk to catwalk, knowing the value of being born without tackers in a city of electronic eyes.
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February 8, 2022
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Sci-Fi
The robots roll out of the factory and onto the waiting ships. The assembled troops salute each passing unit. The grunts have never seen them unfinished or met one of the legendary elite pilots inside, but they’ve all heard the stories. They’ve seen what the Walkers can do. They will bring honor and glory to Luna.
Inside the unit, the child beats its hands against the metal walls. They try and pull out the tubes and wires that connect them to the machine. They scream the ancient words until they are hoarse.
“Alexa, stop!” But the units keep on rolling.
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February 7, 2022
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
The Death’s Head Moths were attracted to the faeries’ light, and thus the fragile creatures became endangered. There was no malice in the insects’ attacks. They merely sensed light and magic and were drawn in.
Initially, the mages built the lanterns as refuges, places the faeries could safely hide when the swarms were on the wing. It was a kindness, and the faeries gratefully accepted their hospitality.
But once the mages had them, they couldn’t help but notice the faeries’ beauty, and how plentiful and useful their magics were.
It does not take long for refuge to become a cage.
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February 6, 2022
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
He sold masks in the little trade towns along the river that cut its way through the kingdom. Instead of the usual raft, he traveled on the back of a huge boar that didn’t like strangers. He slept rough in the hollows along the riverbank.
Each night, he would carve the next day’s wares by the light of hidden fires.
He was smart, and he was careful. They found him anyway.
He still kept his magic sword in his bag, and it awoke in blue fire at his call. He mounted the boar and rode into battle, one last time.
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February 4, 2022
hughjodonnell
Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction
Cyberpunk, Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction
The City expanded in all directions like a crystal. Glass, chrome, and circuitry expanded in every direction.
In most parts of The City, you couldn’t see the sun. In some places, you could barely tell which way was up.
She’d been born there, and it was all she had ever known. It was a billion-limbed organism that consumed and screamed and polluted: The Infant of the Beast, chewing up people. But it was not all there was.
As she rose into the sky, she felt a thrill of anticipation. She would crack The City’s shell, and show them the truth.
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Hugh J. O'Donnell 